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peace

Invisible contentment (a Food for thought blog post)

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God has set eternity in the hearts of men … what does that mean? In a nutshell, it means that nothing of this earth will ever satisfy … not completely. Nothing in this world, not riches, not fame, not friends, family, kids, pets, careers … nothing of this world can ever come close to completely satisfying that void we all feel in our hearts. Nothing visible can ever satisfy the invisible ache. Nothing tangible can satisfy the intangible longing, the indescribable can’t quite reach it “itch” we all feel … that what we’ve been doing, what we’ve been striving for, what we’ve been aiming for … just isn’t enough.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for going after your dreams, living up to your calling, making the most of every opportunity. There’s nothing wrong in and of itself for trying to live life to the fullest. The problem comes in when we think all of those things will bring us true and lasting fulfillment. The problem comes in when we think all those things can truly, completely satisfy all the longings of our heart.

Take it from someone who’s been there, done that … it doesn’t work.  It only ends in heartache … long-term.  It only ends in a “chasing after the wind.”

So, what’s the answer? How do you find “invisible contentment” … and what does that even mean?

Invisible contentment is that feeling of being satiated; of being satisfied; of being “full”… similar to when you’ve eaten a wonderful meal that tasted great … with just the right mix of sweet and salty, with just the right proportions of everything you had been craving … and eating that meal until you felt like you had eaten just enough … not so much you had to loosen your pants since you couldn’t breathe, and not too little that you still wanted more, but just the right amount … no more and no less.

Invisible contentment is having a sense of peace even in the midst of a storm that may be going on in your life.  Having a sense of “knowing” that God’s got this … that God is in control and that He holds you in the palm of His mighty hand.  Remembering that God is our Creator … and the One who created all is over all … over all problems, over all dilemma’s, over all circumstances you may be facing in your life.  He’s got this … you choose to believe it … and, bam! You discover you’ve inadvertently found invisible contentment … you’ve found that all the ache that had previously been in your heart disappeared … just as soon as you fully turned your attention away from the problem and toward the Problem-Solver.

No matter what you may be facing today … no matter how big your problems may be … you can have invisible contentment … there is hope … just look up.  Just fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.  He’s got this … and He’s got you.  Rest in His grace.

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Butting Heads (a Timeless Truths blog post)

Do you find yourself butting heads with someone? Maybe it’s with your husband, your wife, or your boss. You have a conversation … but it feels more like a tug-of-war. One person says something, then the other … and before you know it both of you feel frustrated. You both want to get your point across … you both want the other to understand … your view … you both want something … and neither one wants to give in to the other … neither one wants to be the one to concede the underlying fight … the underlying battle. However, unless one person chooses to become willing to yield … willing to submit… willing to surrender their need to be right … their need to have the last word … their need to have the final say … the end result will be like locking horns … with no way in sight of how to get untangled. You see, there can’t simultaneously be two heads … it will just lead to chaos, confusion, and catastrophe. That’s why there is usually a chain of command or an order to how things are run. Perhaps this is why the Bible says in Ephesians 5 that we need to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. When we are revering Christ we show that we are respecting His way of doing things … and His way of doing things is always rooted in love … the kind of love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13 … love that is not rude or self-seeking but, rather, love that is patient and kind. In any relationship both individuals need to be willing to submit … willing to yield to the other as necessary. This doesn’t make one person better than the other. This doesn’t make one person a doormat and the other person dominant. This makes both people responsible to care enough about the other person that they are willing to show true love … they are willing to let it go when a conversation becomes heated and it is clear it’s better to drop it rather than insist on being the one to be right … the one to win. In reality, the only way to win is to surrender. In that regard you are winning the war against animosity, anger, and anguish … you are winning by showing true love … you are winning by keeping your relationship with the other person intact … knowing that your relationship is worth far more than being right … far more than being the one to dominate. So, how in the world can you do this? How in the world can you find the strength of character to actually submit to one another and show that you are revering Christ’s way of doing things? Only through a personal relationship with Christ Himself. Only by allowing yourself to submit to Him so that His unconditional love will be able to flow through you to other people. You see, we can’t do it on our own … in our own strength and in our own power. Galatians 5:16 lets us know that when we yield our lives to the Holy Spirit we will not gratify the desires of our sinful nature … desires that include selfishness and bickering … desires that may make us feel good but are harmful to ourselves and others. So, the timeless truth for today is this: If you don’t want to butt heads with those you care about, lock horns with Jesus … connect yourself to Him in such a close and personal way that His love flows through you to other people … then you will truly be able to submit yourselves one to another and enjoy peace.

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